RomanPunks is a retrofuturistic, cyberpunk derivative world-building project inspired by fine art, history and the cryptopunk movement.
A total of 1,000 RomanPunk characters have been frozen in time and minted as Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum, WAX, Polygon and Algorand blockchains.
RomanPunk characters are comprised of commoners and famous individuals based on Roman history, art history and pop culture.
The basis for RomanPunk lore and backstories is exhaustively researched by history/sci-fi buff and co-founder, Punktavian.
All images are drawn by hand by woman artist and co-founder, Cleopunktra, without the aid of AI or generative tools.
RomanPunks came into existence through early minting on OpenSea, promoting on Twitter and building a Discord community through giveaways and engagement. The idea of a cyberpunk-derivative ‘RomanPunk’ theme was in our heads for years, but it was the success of the Cryptopunks that became the catalyst for project conception and launch.
After a hard working first 60 days spent networking and attracting new collectors to RomanPunks, our community had begun to flourish and sales increased. We began to offer our collectors an opportunity to battle their NFTs in a tournament bracket powered by dice rolls.
Encouraged by the tight knit community and the carbon-neutral blockchain with lightning fast and low cost transactions, we launched 'romanpunksio' collection on WAX Blockchain as the first step to expand the backstories of our RomanPunk characters and the baseline for future development of a card game.
RomanPunks integrated with Chainlink Labs to utilize VRF (Verified Randomness Function) to host a giveaway raffle for our holders. We developed a smart contract on Ethereum which guarantees true random number selection on chain and can be used for a wide range of functions that require random selection.
After much anticipation in the community, we released our first WAX NFT card 'pack' through the Neftyblocks platform, which sold out in less than a week.
We launched our Twitch channel and begun building an audience by offering numerous giveaways of WAX NFTs from our collection, as well as giving participants a chance to win RomanPunk ETH NFT airdrops for taking top spot at the end of the 'season'.
As firm believers in a metaverse future and land owners in The Sandbox, we undertook to build the RomanPunk Colosseum on 1x1 land and entered our experience "Gladiator Bloodsport" into a GameJam contest. We will continue to build the Colosseum into a PVP arena and social hub once The Sandbox offers creators the ability to do so.
Thanks to the user friendly tools offered by NeftyBlocks, we launched a comprehensive blending system on WAX, allowing our collectors to blend the common NFTs they earn in our Discord RPG up into Legendary famous NFTs through the use of blending 'coins' that can also be earned on the Discord as reward for helping to promote the RomanPunks project.
We launched the VX collection on Polygon. Each owner of an ETH NFT gets their voxel equivalent airdropped to them, and these NFTs can be redeemed for official NFTs on The Sandbox Marketplace once available.
All 1,000 original, unique 1:1 RomanPunk characters hand drawn by Cleopunktra and minted on OpenSea.
The RomanPunk WAX NFT Trading Card Fighter Pack Series II consists of 3 NFTs randomly selected from over 236 characters.
Upcoming plans for RomanPunks include:
Below is a comprehensive and searchable directory of all 1,000 RomanPunk Characters.
Born 1972 AD in Larissa, Teren was a videographer hired to shoot a routine military transport—until his footage captured something the Empire couldn’t allow to exist. Scrubbed from the records and marked for deletion, he fled with the raw files and a camera too old to track. Now he drifts between safehouses, haunted by what he filmed and unsure whether he’s chasing justice or just trying to prove he still exists.
Born in 242 AD in Mediolanum, Alexa Servilianus quickly rose through the ranks of Emperor Aurelian’s legion in Germany after stepping into a dimension portal in Lake Como and returning equipped and skilled with the lightsaber.
Born 275 AD in Alexandria, Babi was a victim of Emperor Diocletian’s Christian persecutions, being forced to fight as a gladiator. Taking it in stride, Babi flourished in the arena until freed by Constantine’s reforms.
Born 2172 AD in Iuvavum, Elsa is an eccentric toy-maker known for her Pet Gremlins, quirky animatronic creatures that have taken the universe by storm. She runs a toy boutique in the souk of Neo-Carthage, where her creations mock the Roman elite with satirical designs that poke fun at emperors, governors, and high-ranking officials. Each gremlin is a playful, biting critique wrapped in bright colors and mischievous grins, offering customers a chance to own a piece of subversive art disguised as a toy.
Born in 185 BC in Alexandria, Raad is a dimension-hopping temple guard equipped with high tech defensive equipment to protect the treasures of the pharaohs from time looters and tourists.
Born 77 AD in Agrigento, Alan collects all species of birds from Africa, creates genetic copies of them and peddles the fowl replicants at his commercial aviary in Rome.
Born 1941 AD in Aquincum in a parallel universe where the Roman Empire never fell, Tanya, while working as a tour guide at the Temple of Janus in Rome, unknowingly stepped through a time portal to the 2nd century AD. Fortunately, her academic knowledge allowed her to blend in with the new surroundings and she eventually found a job as a scribe for Marcus Aurelius, editorializing his writings on Stoic philosophy.
Born in 2180 AD in Syracusae, Vittoria is an enigmatic merchant who carved a niche in Neo-Carthage’s “Bizarre Bazaar”, trading in the exotic and macabre: flesh-eating zombie pets. Her passion for reviving the dead began when she discovered an ancient pet cemetery near Dougga while burying her beloved horse. Wealthy and insouciant, Vittoria is known for her sarcastic charm and love of the herb. Though apolitical, she thrives in the chaotic markets of Neo-Carthage, where her eerie wares attract a diverse clientele.
Born 70 AD in Aventicum, Jo is a passionate baker and trailblazing founder of the interdimensional cupcake franchise known as “The Swiss Miss”, whose beloved products are mass produced and enjoyed infinitely across space and time.
Born 2114 AD in Rome, not much is known about Galla other than she is a dimension hopping cyber-mercenary who dismantles empires through time targeted assassinations.
Born 405 AD in Pelso, Tina was the illegitimate daughter of Godigisel and a servant woman. Interdimensional traveler and half sister to King Genseric, she led Vandal troops razing cities across Spain, Africa and Italy, culminating in the great Sack of Rome in 455 AD.
Backstory:
Born in 92 AD in Petra, Omar saw the annexation of the Nabataean kingdom by the Emperor Trajan as a teenager. Rather than live under the Roman yoke, Omar fled into the desert and was believed to have traveled through a dimensional portal in Egypt.
Born 41 AD in Rome, Aericus is a senator masquerading as an actor to be closer to his forbidden love, a pleb Philetus, star of Virgil’s Aeneid.
Born in 88 AD in Susa, Kendal Kush is a Parthian soldier who fought her entire life against the Roman Emperors Trajan & Hadrian. Refusing to be subjugated by man and foe, she took hundreds of enemy lives before being struck down in the field of battle by a poison arrow.
Born 80 BC in Sinope, Kyma lives a simple life as the proprietor of a bait and tackle shop on the Black Sea, when she’s not following her rock star lover, Stevie Stratonice, on an interdimensional concert tour.
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© 2023 RomanPunks NFT
romanpunks@protonmail.ch
Registered in Ontario, Canada
